galathea | Review | 7x19 | Of Grave Importance

Of Grave Importance, written by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming, is a good old-fashioned ghost story told from an insider perspective. The episode ties in with the reveal about Bobby at the end of Party On, Garth and explores the ins and outs of being a spirit, expanding the ghost mythology of the show in the process. Admittedly, Sam and Dean are relegated to the sidelines for a good part of the episode, but since the main story managed to hold my interest, I actually did not mind that as much as I usually do. And since the brothers’ characterisation/interaction is actually highly enjoyable, I feel pretty content with the direction of the episode.

Just like last week’s episode, Of Grave Importance puts a spotlight on the guest stars and hence it is rather light on brotherly scenes, but Sam and Dean make up for their lack of screen-time with a wonderfully relaxed and comfortable dynamic between them. From the brothers’ shared taco dinner on the hood of their car-of-the-week, to their easy conversation and banter in the restaurant while they wait for Annie, to Sam and Dean discussing the case while Dean is taking a shower, their interaction throughout the episode is companionable and emotionally open. Even when sensitive topics come up between them – Sam’s soulless escapades, for example, or their grief over Bobby – there is not a single off-key note or residual tension in their response to each other. Sam and Dean obviously still mourn Bobby, and they still have their sights set on bringing down Dick Roman, but it is evident that they are in a better place now, emotionally, and I have little doubt that Sam’s recovery plays an important part in that development. I mean, now that Sam’s mental situation is stable, he is no longer forced to put all his energy into upholding the pretence of normalcy, and Dean no longer needs to constantly worry about losing his brother again, well, not more than usual at least. Additionally, their conversation about Bobby in Party On, Garth finally seems to have given the brothers a sense of closure where his death is concerned – which makes the fact that Bobby returns as a ghost all the more tragic, of course.

Annie: "I’m ready for some peace. Wasn’t much of a life. It’s lonely, what we do."
Bobby: "Yeah, but the life I had is the one I picked."
Annie: "Yeah, but you had the boys. All I had was work. It’s gone now."
Bobby: "Yeah, well. I ain’t done."

Of Grave Importance is largely told from Bobby’s point of view and gives us some insight into his afterlife experience these past couple of months, thus retroactively bridging the narrative gap in his story between Death’s Door and the present. The show has done episodes shown from a ghost’s perspective before, namely in Roadkill and, to some extent, in Death Takes A Holiday, but Molly had been unaware of her ghostly existence and Cole had been trapped by fear, and the goal was to get them to accept their situation and move on. Bobby, on the other hand, has chosen to become a spirit. He is not only fully aware of the implications of his decision, but also plans to use it to his advantage, and that allows for a completely different approach to the subject matter. Still, like any other ghost, Bobby is struggling with the emotional impact of his situation, even though he tries to hide it behind his usual gruff demeanour. Unable to communicate with Sam and Dean, he is on the outside looking in, reduced to a mere observer where he used to be an active part of the team, and for a man as hands-on as Bobby that is obviously hard to accept. Moreover, Sam and Dean are okay without him, emotionally as well as professionally. Their investigation of the haunted house runs relatively smoothly and they readily turn to each other for input and support. They do not need Bobby quite as much as he thinks they do.

Now, while I am sure that part of Bobby is proud of Sam and Dean’s resilience, I think there is also a part of him that struggles to accept that their life has moved on without him. I think that's why he is grumbling about Sam and Dean’s 'incompetence' throughout the episode, complaining about their slow wit and claiming that they would do much better if he was there to support them, or why he is hurt and angry when the brothers are not overjoyed to see him. Bobby of all people should understand their ambivalent reaction, but his perspective has already shifted without him noticing. He is on the other side of the fence now, and no matter how much he might cling to his old self, that is bound to change him – and, in the long run, probably not for the better. That’s not to say that Bobby is doomed to go mad any time soon, especially not if he can ground himself in his emotional connection to Sam and Dean and master the art of 'ghost Zen' in order to prevent his anger from controlling him. However, I am not sure how long Bobby will be able to truly feel content with his situation – chained to an object, entirely dependent on Sam and Dean, cut off from the hunters’ community. Bobby may be confident that he is different from every other ghost, but it is possible that he simply deludes himself. I think there is a chance though that once Bobby finished his unfinished business, namely bringing Dick Roman’s empire down, Bobby will be able to move on.

Dean: "What were you thinking, Bobby? You could be in heaven right now, drinking beer at Harvelle’s. Not ... not stuck –"
Bobby: "– stuck here with you? We still have work to do. I just thought that was kind of important, Dean."
Dean: "It’s not right. You know that."

Even though Sam and Dean expressed their desire to have Bobby back many times, their reaction when they finally face Bobby’s ghost is highly conflicted, and I think their initial reservations are perfectly understandable. These past couple of years, the show has made a point of illustrating that the disruption of the natural order has dire consequences, so it is only consistent that the writers do not treat Bobby’s decision to become a ghost lightly, just because it is Bobby. I think it is not surprising that Dean in particular is taken aback by Bobby’s decision. The thought of becoming one of the things they hunt has always been abhorrent to Dean and to see the man he valued as a father-figure, friend and hunter reduced to a 'monster', by choice even, understandably throws him for a loop. In Dean’s mind, it insults everything Bobby stood for when he was still alive. Dean may understand the initial impulse of refusing to move on – after all, that is what he did in In My Time Of Dying as well – but he admitted in Death Takes A Holiday that he wished he had gone with Tessa right away. Of course, disrupting the natural order did not stop Dean when Sam’s life was on the line, but he paid a steep price for his interference, and that’s not something he is likely to forget. Not to mention that Death personally took it upon himself to ensure that Dean truly comprehends the consequences of the refusal to accept mortality, and I think that lesson was not lost on Dean. All told, Dean’s disappointment and hurt when faced with Bobby’s decision makes perfect sense.

Sam, on the other hand, tries to approach the situation with a little more optimism. Partly, I think, because he wants to reassure Dean, partly because he genuinely considers the possibility that their current dilemma does not necessarily have to end in a disaster. I mean, the brothers know for a fact that there are ghosts that remain benevolent, like Mary for example, or ghosts that simply finish their unfinished business and then move on in peace, like Molly. So it is not entirely unreasonable for Sam to think that maybe they can make a mutually beneficial cooperation with a ghost work somehow, especially given Bobby’s level of self-awareness. Moreover though, I think that Sam’s open-mindedness comes from a place of self-reflection. Sam himself has been on Bobby’s side of the equation – as the one who is considered a monster, a supernatural being destined to become evil – so he can sympathise with Bobby’s situation to an extent. Sam already sympathised with ghosts back in Roadkill, where he acknowledged that a lot of ghosts have been good people whose control over their own fate had been taken away, and obviously that is something Sam can easily relate to. Of course, that does not quite apply to Bobby. After all, Bobby did have a choice, but whether or not it was the wrong choice remains to be seen, and I cannot fault Sam for hoping that there is a tiny chance for it all to turn out well.

Still, given that the brothers have just come to terms with Bobby’s death, his return is bound to throw them off their (emotional) balance again. They already said their goodbyes once, and the prospect of losing Bobby all over again is just too painful to contemplate. The fact that, for the first time since Bobby died, Dean puts his flask in the trunk of the car instead of keeping it close to him – and Sam does not object, I might add, even though he knows that it will lock Bobby out as soon as they leave the car – tells us just how much Bobby’s revelation affects them.

What else is noteworthy:

(1) As far as I can tell, the ghost lore in Of Grave Importance is largely consistent with the previously established canon, and the few occurrences in the episode that are new, can easily be extrapolated from said canon. For example, we may never before have seen a ghost feed on the energy of other ghosts to make himself stronger, but we know from Home and Ghostfacers that ghosts can use their own energy to cancel the energy of other ghosts out, so I see no reason why it should not work the other way round as well. Similarly, we may never before have heard of spectro voice transference, i.e. ghosts deliberately using electronic devices to communicate with the living, but it is really only the logical continuation of the electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) established in the Pilot. Anyway, what stands out to me in the scenes at the Van Ness house is the sheer number of ghosts that seem not actually aware of their continuous existence and just vegetate in an almost zombie-like state. I wonder if that is a general ghost phenomenon or something that just pertains to this particular haunted house. The thought that most ghosts never actually figure out what they have become and just exist suspended in time and space until they wither away is just incredibly saddening.

(2) Bobby’s ghostly companion throughout the episode is Annie, a fellow hunter and friend of Bobby and the Winchesters, who gets herself killed in the opening act of the episode. Now, while Annie’s history with Sam and Dean strikes me as rather contrived, I do not mind her all that much since she is clearly a one-off character designed for a very specific narrative purpose, namely to serve as a sounding board for Bobby, thus giving him the opportunity to voice his thoughts and feelings (for the audience’s benefit). Moreover, the fact that Annie is a hunter and friend allows her to understand the implications of Bobby’s choice to become a ghost and question his motivations better than any other random ghost could. Annie’s acceptance of her death, her desire to move on and finally find some peace builds an interesting contrast to Bobby’s stubborn refusal to let go, and I like the way she opposes Bobby, without outright condemning his choice. So, overall I may not feel particularly invested in Annie’s story, but I think her character is reasonably well used in the episode.

In conclusion: Of Grave Importance is a low-key, character-driven episode that gets us up to speed on Bobby’s story and as such I enjoyed it greatly. Bobby’s return as a ghost will probably result in a whole slew of new issues and problems for Sam and Dean, so it will be interesting to see how they will deal with this turn of events in the next couple of episodes. With only four episodes left of the season, and the brothers still clueless about Dick Roman’s plans or how to take him down, I expect the writers to focus on the leviathan storyline from here on out – and it looks like Bobby (and presumably Castiel) will aid the brothers in their fight after all. I admit, I still feel conflicted about that development. On the one hand, I never wanted Sam and Dean to be alone in the first place, but on the other hand, I think it takes away from the brothers’ emotional arc this season to return their friends at this point. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how I feel after it all played out.

Sorry, I am so late, but work has been kicking my ass this week, and I didn’t get much writing done in the evenings. That’s also the reason why this review is not quite as extensive as I had planned, but I hope I can revisit it at a later time.